Organizational goals

A good idea of the overall mission of the organization, accompanied by more specific goals on paper and carefully configured plans, can be important to the success of an organization.

Whereas a goal is a future target or end result that an organization wishes to achieve, a plan is the means devised for attempting to reach a goal. The planning function encompasses both goals and plans. Planning is the management function that involves setting goals and deciding how to achieve them in the best way.

Goals

Plans

Goal attainment (organizational efficiency and effectiveness)

Organizational goals form one of the important elements in the overall planning process. The use of goals has several major benefits. For one thing, goals can increase performance. Increases in performance due to setting challenging goals frequently range from 10 to 25 percent. Furthermore, such increases have occurred with a variety of employee groups.

Another benefit of goals is that they help clarify expectations. When goals are set, organization members are more likely to have a clear idea of the major outcomes that they are expected to achieve. Without goals, organization members can all be working very hard but may collectively accomplish very little – as if they were rowers independently rowing the same boat in different directions and together making very little progress.

Goals also facilitate the controlling function, because goals provide benchmarks against which progress can be assessed so that corrective action can be taken as needed. Thus goals help individuals gauge their progress, as well as assist managers in maintaining control over organizational activities.

Yet another benefit of goals is increased motivation. The added motivation develops from meeting goals, feeling a sense of accomplishment, and receiving recognition and other rewards for reaching target outcomes.

Organizations typically have three levels of goals: strategic, tactical, and operational. Strategic goals are broadly defined targets or future end results set by top management and relating to the organization as a whole. Tactical goals are targets or future end results usually set by middle management for specific departments or units. Operational goals are targets or future end results set by lower management that addresses specific, measurable outcomes required from the lower levels. These three levels of goals can be conceptualized as a hierarchy of goals.

In order to make effective use of goals, managers need to understand just how goals can facilitate performance. A number of key components help explain how it goes. Goal content is one component; goals should be challenging, attainable, specific and measurable, time – limited, and relevant. Goal commitment is another key component and can usually be positively influenced through supervisory authority, peer and group pressure, public display of commitment, expectations of success, and incentives and rewards. Work behaviour is also a major component; goal content and goal commitment influence the direction, effort, persistence, and planning aspects of work behaviour. Other major components are job knowledge and ability, complexity of task, and situational constraints. Although there are many positive features associated with using goals in organizations there are also some potential pitfalls to be avoided.